1997

1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive, 5 days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.
• January 10- Bulgarian Student strike vs government of Jan Videnov
• January 16 - Ennis Cosby, the only son of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by a gunman while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California.
• January 17 - A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
• January 18 - In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound another.
• January 19 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
• January 20 - Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States.
• January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
• January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State after confirmation by the United States Senate.
• January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi receives the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed 2 and wounded 3 others.
• January 26 - The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots, 35-21, in Super Bowl XXXI.
• January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.

February

• February 4
  • O.J. Simpson is found liable in civil court for the death of Ron Goldman and for the battery of Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the 2 victims.
  • On their way to Lebanon, 2 Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing 73.
  • After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
  • Ipswich Town footballer Adam Tanner, who recently failed a drugs test, is banned from football for three months at an FA hearing. Tanner received a relatively lenient punishment as he had admitted taking drugs at the first attempt and shown remorse for his behaviour.
  • British Home Secretary Michael Howard informs Moors Murderer Myra Hindley that she will never be released from prison. Mr Howard made the decision in agreement with a recommendation made by his predecessor David Waddington in 1990.
• February 5
  • The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
  • Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
• February 9 - The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series.
• February 10
  • The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.
  • Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island.
• February 13
  • The Washington Post reports that U.S. Justice Department investigators found evidence the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC may have coordinated financial contributions to the Democratic party in violation of U.S. law. This brings a new dimension to the growing 1996 United States campaign finance controversy.
  • STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from Space Shuttle Discovery.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time, gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
• February 19 - The last of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping, dies at 92 (this is followed by weeks of mourning).
• February 22 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned, and was born in July 1996.
• February 23 - A large fire occurs in the Russian space station Mir.
• February 28 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place between 2 heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.

nothing

March

• March 1 - The Osaka Dome opens in Chiyozaki, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Japan.
• March 4 - U.S. President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
• March 6
  • Picasso's Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery (recovered a week later).
  • In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill more than 200.
• March 10 - The main office of Fuji TV moves from Kawadacho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan to Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
• March 11 - An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination, in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
• March 12 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.
• March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
• The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China creates a new Chongqing Municipality. It was formerly part of Sichuan.
• March 16 - Sandline affair - On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
• March 18 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey, causing the plane to crash, killing all 50 on board, and resulting in the grounding of all An-24s.
• March 21
  • In Zaire, Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed new prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.
  • Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea.
  • The Movie Selena is first shown to public.
• March 22
  • Tara Lipinski, 14, becomes the youngest women's world figure skating champion.
  • The comet Hale-Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth.
• March 24 - Roberto Sanchez Vilella, the second democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 84.
• March 26
  • In San Diego, California, 39 Heaven's Gate cultists commit mass suicide at their compound.
  • The survey of a claimed gold site of Bre-X Minerals in Indonesia reveals it is worthless; Bre-X complains and accuses Internet rumours.
  • Julius Chan resigns as prime minister of Papua New Guinea, ending the Sandline affair.

April

• April 1 - Comic strip switcheroo: Cartoonists of popularly syndicated comic strips swap cartoons for the day.
• April 3 - The Thalit massacre in Algeria: All but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
• April 11 - Fire damages the Turin Cathedral in Italy.
• April 14
  • Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 7 miles from Mecca; 343 die.
  • Former SS Captain Erich Priebke is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to 5 years in prison.
• April 16 - Houston, Texas socialite Doris Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Angleton later admits to the crime in his suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he is later arrested by the United States Department of Justice on similar charges.
• April 18 -Birth of Junaid Suhel Merchant The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing US$2 billion in damage.
• April 21 - A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial.
• April 22
  • Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
  • A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building, rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, 2 soldiers are killed from rebel fire, and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain.
  • France supports the new transitional government in Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu Sese Seko.
• April 23 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
• April 27 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and end with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.

May

• May 1
  • Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
  • United Kingdom general election, 1997: The United Kingdom's Labour Party ends 18 years of Conservative rule.
  • HM Prison Pentridge in Melbourne, Australia, is officially closed.
• May 2 - Tony Blair is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• May 3 - Katrina and the Waves win Eurovision 1997 for the UK with Love Shine A Light, the most successful Eurovision entry ever.
• May 10 - An earthquake near Ardekul, in northeastern Iran, kills at least 2,400.
• May 11 - IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.
• May 12 - The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty is signed.
• May 14
  • The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.
  • Laurent Kabila does not attend a second meeting with Mobutu.
• May 16
  • Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Kinshasa (eventually settles in Morocco).
  • U.S. President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and their families, 25 years after the 40-year "study" was exposed by reporter Jean Heller.
• May 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.
• May 22 - Women in the military: Kelly Flinn, the U.S. Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
• May 25
  • Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months).
  • A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
• May 27 - Jarrell Tornado): The second deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.
• May 31 - Official opening of the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge spanning ice covered waters, between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

June

• June 1
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
  • Chivas wins their 10th Verano '97 championship 7-2 against Toros Neza.
• June 2 - In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• June 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam,